There may be an important event coming up, and you want to look your very best. But your hair length doesn't seem to be right - it's too short! So you start to panic, thinking that you may be out of time. Fortunately, there is a science to hair growth, and there are things you can do to speed up the growth process.

Get plenty of rest.

Sometimes, hair growth may be stunted by stress and worry. If you haven't had enough rest, or if you are feeling stressed out by work, that may slow down the growth of your hair. You may also notice that the hair starts to lose its healthy shine. If you find yourself getting tired easily, make sure that you drink plenty of water and get plenty of rest. Don't work late nights as that will increase your fatigue level. Besides rest, what you eat is also important.

Taking care of your diet.

Your diet is the next major element of your hair growth program. Having enough rest helps recharge your body, but you still need to feed your body with good food to promote hair growth. Cut on on fatty and red meat. The idea here is to have a well balanced diet so that the fats and hormones don't go out of control. If they do, you may be losing hair instead of acquiring hair.

Protecting your hair.

While you are trying to grow your hair, you must make sure that you take measures that will help protect those strands. In other words, don't engage in any activity that will expose the strands to harsh elements like sunlight or strong winds. Over exposure may cause your hair to become brittle and they start to break off easily.

Hair care habits.

Your hair care habits also play an active role. Hair has natural oils that help prevent them from becoming too brittle. Sometimes, this balance may be upset - i.e. oil may be too little, or too much.

If you have the habit of washing your head daily, make sure that you use a mild shampoo instead of a strong one. Stronger chemicals may remove too much oil, and that damages the hair. To further protect the hair, use a conditioner.

But if you find that your head is excreting larger amounts of oil, then you may want to use a stronger shampoo. In this case, avoid using any type of conditioner. It all depends on individual needs.

After a hair wash, exercise caution when you are combing or brushing your hair. Use gentle and smooth strokes when doing so. Hard and willful brushing will most certainly strain the hair, and cause it to become weaker. You may also end up pulling out perfectly healthy strands.

If you adopt all the tips above, not only will you find yourself with lustrous looking hair after a few months, you will also notice that there is less dandruff. As your health improves, the condition of the scalp becomes better as well, and that helps to promote hair growth.